Hoosier funders invest in education

Foundations in Indiana devoted 47 percent of their grants to education in 2005, more than double the national average, a new study says.

“The investments Indiana foundations are making in strengthening education are significant,” Patrick M. Rooney, interim executive director and director of research for the Center on Philanthropy at Indiana University, says in a statement. “In 2005, they gave more than $450 million to educational organizations.”

The study by the Center on Philanthropy says Indiana foundations gave an estimated total of $964.9 million for charitable purposes in 2005, more than two-thirds of it staying in the state.

While the state fell below national levels in giving to health and the arts, it contributed four times the national average to religious organizations.

Indiana was in line with national averages in its grantmaking to human-services nonprofits, such as food banks and homeless shelters, and to public-society benefit organizations such as United Way.

In five of the eight Indiana regions studied, community foundations contributed 20 percent or more of foundation giving, nearly twice the national average.

The Indiana Grantmakers Alliance, an organization that provides resources to improve philanthropy statewide, funded the study.